


Six Times Uchiha Obito Travelled Through Time (and one time he didn’t)

by Ellesra



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Time Fuckery, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2019-11-14 16:38:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18056177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellesra/pseuds/Ellesra
Summary: I really like time-travel. I also really like Obito. But there's only so many full-fledged stories you can juggle at a time. So this is my attempt at getting some of those stories out there, without starting any more novel-length stories.





	1. Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> I really like time-travel. I also really like Obito. But there's only so many full-fledged stories you can juggle at a time. So this is my attempt at getting some of those stories out there, without starting any more novel-length stories.

The feeling of crumbling, of becoming ash, still sticks around after his reunion with Rin. He is nowhere and everywhere, dust on the wind, and yet he’s still there with her. The hand she reaches out feels hot on his cheek. He stares at her, confused. She is crying. He was hoping-

Uchiha Obito really should learn to stop hoping for good endings.

“I’m sorry Obito-kun. I just don’t want it to end this way,” she utters, apologetically, like she was the one who had done unforgivable things. Or who’s doing it, he realizes, as the ashes of his body start feeling warm. They gather, they reform, they get surrounded by something hot and warm and wet-

He can’t breathe, and yet he can. There is no air going through his lungs, and his surroundings are so tight and dark he can hardly move.

Then there is light. Sudden and all at once, it spills onto his closed eyelids. An attempt to open them results in little. His skin is wet, everything feels cold in comparison to that warm embrace.

Something is touching him, cloth is being swaddled around him. He forces his eyes open through sheer willpower, and sees only blurred shapes of black and white and blue.

There are arms embracing him. He looks up through what feels like a fog, and sees the vague outline of an unfamiliar face.

For some reason, he feels safe. Then, just as he realizes this minute fact, his lungs start convulsing. A small cough, and there is cold, terrible air in his lungs. He never thought he would miss breathing liquid. Yet here he is. Crying for the first time in what feels like decades, just because life hurts so fucking much.

Then it’s alright again, because those strong arms hold him, and he blissfully falls into oblivion.

It’s when he wakes up again, that his undeveloped brain manages to catch up to the situation. _Mom_ , his brain keeps screaming at him, as he gazes up into a face full of smile wrinkles and what must be _freckles_.

Even though all sounds are very far away to him, her voice is somehow completely clear in his head, ringing like a bell.

“I know it! I figured it out, baa-chan! His name will be Obito!” sounds her cheerful shout. It’s quite loud, and Obito wrinkles his nose.

“Obaa-sama, you silly girl. Don’t let the rest of the clan hear you speak like that,” crows another voice, and this one is familiar. Still, Obito’s brain has a hard time placing it. It’s like there’s a block, somewhere, keeping the information from him. It makes him frown, trying to bring up some, any, of his past memories.

“I think he’s gonna poop!” shouts his mother, in a tone mixed between happiness and panic. There is a sigh, the baa-chan clearly exasperated.

Obito turns his scowl on his mother, like he’s offended she could ever suggest he would do such a thing.

All he gets in return is her boisterous laughter.

///

It takes embarrassingly long for Obito to realize he is currently toddler-shaped. Even longer for him to figure out how these chubby small limbs work. He quickly gets to crawling, but the distance from there to the standing position he formerly thought his natural state of living seems impossibly far. His feet are just… Not _flat_ enough. They keep curling strangely, or bowling to one side, or simply not being able to hold his considerable weight.

Soon, though, with quite a bit of help from his mother, he manages to walk.

From there, it’s only a matter of finding the right surfaces to hold on to. It doesn’t take him long to scour the entire house, easily finding his mother’s stash of kunai.

For that, he gets a proper scolding. Still, something warm curls in his chest when his mother claims he’s already on the way to becoming a _great_ ninja.

And then she’s gone. Just like that, from one day to the next, she disappears. Baa-chan doesn’t tell him anything, which is probably because she thinks he won’t understand. She just tells him to stop asking, that his mother won’t be coming back.

Already started on his second lifetime, and Obito still hasn’t managed to catch his mother’s name.

Months go, though, and it’s never stated clearly why his mother left.

There are hints, though. From what he can gather, she had started working for the police force after the Uchiha had taken her in. Having an Uchiha’s bastard apparently garnered a place in the clan, though it clearly wasn’t enough to protect her from the dangers of the Force’s line of work.

Anger bubbles within him, but he quashes it. Giving in to that feeling had led him wrong the first time. He will not allow it to happen again.

Especially when he hasn’t even met Rin yet. She’s not there to scold him for being an idiot, and neither is Bakashi. So he’ll just have to wait.

Wait, and plot out the murder of two of Konoha’s most powerful ninja.

///

Obito is five, the first time he sees Kakashi.

He’s already met Rin, a quiet girl who sits at the front of all their academy classes. It goes against something fundamental inside Obito to do so as well, but he does it all the same. For some reason, the teacher still looks at him askance, even when he stays quiet and doesn’t shout to the world that he’s going to become Hokage. What more could they want from him? Asslicking?

Meeting Kakashi, however, is quite the surprise.

Because Kakashi is a baby. Not just younger than him, but an _actual baby_. And yet, it’s very clear that it’s the same boy, because that glare is too characteristic to miss. The white tuft of hair on his head could just be the way baby hair looked, but that glare could belong to no one else.

Then Obito looks up at the man whose arms Babykashi is in, and despite himself Obito feels a great sense of awe. Because the ninja in front of him exudes an air of strength and competency. It was clearly not a thing Bakashi would inherit from his father. Yet it is definitely his father, because the likeness is stunning.

The man’s gaze falls on him, and Obito feels his sense of awe fall to a deep-seated sense of wariness.

And then the jounin approaches him, which in no way makes the feeling any better.

“Hello there. Who are you, then?” the Hatake asks, and Obito makes sure not to avoid his sharp gaze.

“Uchiha Obito. And who are you?” he asks, though he’s not really sure he cares to get the answer. Befriending Kakashi’s father before the incident might put a stopper to Kakashi’s douchiness. Then again, Obito isn’t actually certain he would like to change the man Kakashi will become.

…

Who is he kidding. He would love to have a say in Babykashi’s upbringing.

“Hatake Sakumo. Say, you’re an academy student, aren’t you?” Sakumo asks, smiling kindly, and it’s the start of something great (and terrifying).


	2. Whiplash

It’s almost like his Sharingan activated in that moment in order to punish him.

The sudden drain of chakra makes him stumble. What finishes the effect, bringing him to his knees, is seeing the Iwa nin stab through Rin’s neck. Clearly feeling she had fulfilled her purpose.

“Rin!” he calls weakly, as his Sharingan forever records the bloody moment in his mind. There is another tug, like his eyes are being pulled slowly out of his eye socket. Even so, they register the enemy appearing before him. That does not mean he is quick enough to protect himself.

Then he gets shoved to the side instead of getting stabbed, and can’t help but stare in horror as Kakashi receives the slash meant for him.

There is something breaking in his chest. Something that screams to get out, that pulls and pushes and cuts into his eyes. So he lets it go, and in response his whole body gets pulled inside the void.

On the other side is the back of the Iwa shinobi who had killed Rin. It feels too easy to drag a kunai across the man’s throat. There is no resistance. The body falls limply to the ground, and Obito lets his gaze slide over to the last enemy. Kakashi engaged him despite his lack of eyesight, but is clearly struggling against the man. It seems like the nin can blend into his surroundings, and Kakashi, already lacking one eye, has a hard time tracking him.

Obito can see him just fine.

In a burst of speed, he intercepts a strike meant for Kakashi. The boy’s remaining eye widens as he takes in the closeness of the enemy’s blade, but before Kakashi gets to react Obito has already kicked the Iwa nin across the clearing.

It should be satisfying, kicking two jounin’s asses like they were freshly minted genin. And yet, all Obito feels is an all-consuming anger. There should be worry for Kakashi, the only teammate he has left. There should be fear, for the possibility that they might lose.

Where those emotions should be, it’s hollow. Empty.

Another pull, another trip through the void, and he appears beside the enemy. The man is crouching, but only barely has time to register Obito’s movement before there is a kunai in his throat. He pulls the kunai back, and there is a spurt of blood that drenches him. It should be disgusting, or horrifying.

Obito is still angry.

He turns, but there is no more ninja to take his anger out on. All that’s left is Kakashi, and Rin’s-

Obito turns, because he can’t stand looking at her. Can’t stand seeing the blankness of her eyes, or the blood staining her clothes, or the way she’s crumbled in a way that can only mean-

The pull beckons, and Obito lets it take him away.

///

Obito really isn’t sure why his ability would bring him here.

Of all the places he could want to go, he’s certain the Uchiha Compound isn’t one of them. The place is bad enough, without him appearing when he should be in the middle of a mission. His family will probably freak out, start shouting about how he was a disgrace to their clan…

His newly unlocked Sharingan might change their mind. That thought should have given him some kind of satisfaction, but instead there is only a deep sense of disgust.

This isn’t how he wanted it all to happen. He wanted to unlock it, yes, but not when it meant he would lose Rin. And now he had, and taking advantage of that… It just wouldn’t do.

He realizes suddenly how tired he is. It’s like his whole body is being dragged down, unconsciousness just waiting at the corner of his eye. He feels empty, but then, shouldn’t he be? The sharingan is supposed to take a lot of chakra.

A mad laughter escapes him. He doesn’t even know how to turn the damn eyes off. And now he can’t escape the sight of Rin getting stabbed again and again and again-

Somehow, he ends up by his own bed. There is something wrong, but he just doesn’t have the energy to look for it. Instead he collapses onto the dusty sheets, and promptly falls unconscious.

When he wakes up, there’s a kunai at his neck.

“How dare you be in here,” an unfamiliar voice says. Obito groans, but doesn’t move. It almost feels like he can’t; his body is simply too heavy.

“Leave me alone,” Obito grumbles into his pillow. When he pulls in a breath, the dust threatens to choke him. How he could sleep on this, is a mystery.

“What’s wrong with you?” the accusing voice continues. Obito lets out another noise of dismay.

“I am suffering from chakra exhaustion and I’m just trying to get some rest in my own bed,” Obito complains in a voice that isn’t very coherent. It seems like the person got something out of it, though, because he’s practically hissing with rage.

With a heave that takes a great amount of effort, Obito turns around, and stares at the unfamiliar boy.

It’s clearly an Uchiha, but Obito can’t say he’s ever met the guy before. However distant he is from his clan, he’s not  _ that _ distant.

“Who the fuck are you?!” he erupts, and tries to sit up. And promptly fails, of course.

“Who am I!? You’re the one who just went to sleep in  _ my _ compound!” The boy erupts. He’s clearly delusional.

“Okay, I’m way too tired to deal with this. And last time I checked, this was an  _ Uchiha _ compound, not some little brat’s playground,” Obito growls, ignoring that the boy doesn’t look that much younger than him.

The delusional Uchiha is practically spitting in rage, and the kunai is back at Obito’s neck.

“Tell me. Who. You. Are.”

“Uchiha Obito, lying in my own bed, in my grandmother’s house, in a compound that  _ I’m _ part of. Now get out, before I manage to gather some actual chakra and stick that kunai up your arse!”

It’s like Obito pushed a button or something. The boy’s pale complexion manages to get even whiter, and those dark Uchiha eyes have a lot of emotions flashing through them. Obito frankly doesn’t care.

“But… I don’t remember you,” the boy utters, and his former hiss has turned into something almost fragile.

“Well, I don’t remember you either. Get out. Please.” The exhaustion is tugging on him, and the relief he feels when the boy actually does as he says is palpable. 

Darkness encroaches, and Obito is all too ready to sink back into the musty sheets and sleep on.

The next time he wakes, the boy is there again.

He’s  _ hovering _ , and Obito makes sure to send a glare his way before closing his eyes again. The rays of sunshine entering through the window are totally unwelcome.

Why hasn’t his grandmother chased the boy away? Obito can’t imagine anyone standing up to his baa-chan, especially not this skinny twerp.

Then again, the boy  _ had _ been holding a tray, so maybe his grandmother had actually sent this guy? Obito scoffs, then, on the thought that she couldn’t be bothered to come herself. It just figures.

Even if Obito tries to ignore the unfamiliar Uchiha, he doesn’t leave. It would have been polite to just leave the food, wouldn’t it?

Grumpily, Obito sits up. The boy is quick to offer the tray, even if he’s standing way too far away for Obito to actually grab it.

“Well? Are you going to give it to me or what?” he asks, and the kid looks like he’s about to get pissed. Then he visibly gathers himself.

Obito can’t say he’s ever met a person who hasn’t given him a piece of their mind. It’s not like people are afraid of him, or look up to him; even civilians seem to know that he is on the very lower echelons of Uchiha rank, and tend to let this knowledge show.

“Uhm, thanks?” he poses, and looks over the fairly luxurious food he’s just been given.

Could it be that news of his awakened Sharingan already reached Konoha? Was this some kind of “congrats on your new eyes” gift?

“So,” he says, as the other Uchiha keeps hovering, “you didn’t really tell me your name.”

“Uchiha Sasuke,” the guy answers, then looks at Obito as though that should have meant something to him.

Obito hums noncommittally, then takes a bit of fruit. He follows it with a spoonful of miso, and very quickly decides that he’s actually  _ extremely _ hungry.

It doesn’t take him very long to finish eating, his stomach growling at him for the considerable amount of work he just gave it.

“So,” he starts over, now feeling a lot more friendly towards the person who fed him. “Where is everyone? I would have expected  _ someone _ to come in and yell at me,” he tries to joke, but his tone falls flat as he sees the expression on Sasuke’s face. There’s a lot of emotions there, and none of them is the awkward laughter Obito was aiming for.

“They’re-” Sasuke begins, and seems to struggle to get the words out, “they’re dead. The whole clan, except for me and-” he stops again, and the mixture of emotions has transformed into a very clear one: Anger.

Obito, still, isn’t very inclined to believe him. A strange Uchiha he’s never even seen before, coming into his room and telling him their whole clan is dead? That must be a prank.

“Very funny,” Obito says, but the expression on his face makes it very clear that it isn’t.

Though his body wants otherwise, he heaves himself out of bed. Sasuke jumps up, anger morphing into something uncertain, and then Obito strides past him.

“Baa-chan!” he yells into the unnaturally still house. He looks around, distantly noting the dust on the furniture and the open doors that usually get closed to ward off the chill. 

It doesn’t take long until he finds traces of her. He ends up standing there, staring at the stains of blood in the wooden flooring. They are dark and dry, not a recent acquisition. It seems so impossible, when he was here only days ago.

“Who?” he seethes, and turns to the boy who is lingering behind him. Sasuke’s face has taken on a blank mask, and Obito figures this isn’t the first time he’s seen the stains.

If he’s the only one left, then Sasuke was probably the one who cleaned it all up.

“My brother, Uchiha Itachi,” comes the answer, and Obito’s left to stare at the boy incredulously.

That’s a name he knows. Of course he does. The Uchiha clan’s heir is well known to, well, anyone. You would have to be born under a rock to not know that name.

That didn’t change that Uchiha Itachi was only four years old (or was he still three?), and really shouldn’t have been able to murder an entire clan of hardened ninja.

“And… How did he do that?” Obito asks, before he realizes that Sasuke had just said  _ brother _ . But Itachi didn’t have a brother. Last he checked, at least.

Sasuke looks frustrated, and Obito might have taken a certain joy in that, were the matter not so serious.

“What do you think? He stabbed them with his sword! And he spared our parents for last, and stabbed them in the back like the coward he is!” the boy erupts. His hands are clenched, and there seems to be tears gathering in his eyes.

Obito puts the matter of Itachi being barely more than a toddler to the side.

“Hey,” he says instead, and moves forward. Sasuke flinches, but Obito hugs him anyway. Sometimes, it’s very nice to be hugged when you cry. This he had experienced several times when his sensei had found him crying.

It didn’t seem like Sasuke was enjoying it much, though. His entire body is stiff. There is a faint shaking to his frame, like he is trying to hold the entirety of his feelings at bay. Then, after several long moments, his head comes down to rest on Obito’s shoulder.

They stand there for a long time. Obito feels like he almost fell asleep, by the time Sasuke gently pushes him away. He looks down at himself then, and realizes he’s actually covered with blood as well. He hadn’t bothered changing before falling into bed.

Sasuke must have noticed, but hadn’t said anything. Not so strange, when you discover there is a member of your family actually alive and all.

“You should go back to sleep,” Sasuke commands as he looks into Obito’s bleary eyes. Against his own wishes on the matter, Obito shakes his head.

“I need to go make a report to the Hokage. I should have done so yesterday, but…” he just shrugs, and smiles wearily. It’s not the first time he’s late to something like that. The Sandaime won’t be too surprised, he gathers.

Then, the thought of his team hits him. It is not unlike a bludgeon to the head, and Obito actually stumbles forward on his way out the door. Rin. Kakashi. Minato-sensei.

He left Kakashi there all alone. And while the bastard is a jounin, and  _ should _ be able to get home on his own, Obito wasn’t alone in losing Rin. Kakashi was there too. And he would have had to carry her body home  _ on his own _ .

A sudden hurry carries him to the Hokage tower. Quite belatedly, he realizes that Sasuke has followed him. A bit like a lost puppy, and the thought brings a smile to his lips before his brain turns back on his recent loss.

The smile goes quickly after that.

Lucky for him, it’s the middle of the day. It means that the administration building is busy, and that he easily slips inside the Hokage’s office just as someone else is leaving.

“Sasuke-kun?” the Sandaime questions, and Obito frowns as he turns to his… What, cousin?

The boy feigns nonchalance, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulder a bit too high for comfort. Obito feels constipated just looking at the boy, and is strangely reminded of Kakashi.

“Hokage-sama,” he intones, and straightens up as the man’s gaze finds him. There is quite obvious confusion there. It’s not a look he’s used to seeing on the Sandaime’s face.

The man seems to be searching him with his eyes, and Obito feels very scrutinized by the old man’s sharp gaze. He then also realizes that he’s once more forgotten to change. Still covered with crusty blood. Can’t be a pretty sight.

“I’m here to report on my last mission, sir,” he continues, and waits several unpleasant moments as the Sandaime chews on his pipe.

“And who would you be?” the man asks, his gaze flicking to Obito’s left. Looking there as well, proves that Sasuke is frowning too.

“Uhm…” he says, not feeling too coherent at the moment. What is going on!?

“Uchiha Obito, sir? You sent me and my team on a mission four days ago…” he trails off, and doesn’t need to look at Sasuke to feel his intense stare.

It does seem like some realization is happening for the Hokage, though. He looks Obito over with a new kind of contemplation, now. Obito still feels no more comfortable for it.

“Is that so?” the man says. Obito frowns at the man. Could he stop being so kage-damned mysterious and just tell him what was up already?

“Yes,” he replies, rather pointedly.

“So where did the two of you meet, Sasuke-kun?”

Looking at him again, Sasuke looks quite uncertain.

“In the compound. He went to sleep in one of the empty residences,” the boy replies.

Obito looks between the two of them.

Enough was enough.

“Okay, can someone tell me what is going on!? I return home only to find that my entire family has been slaughtered by a four year old, that the Hokage himself don’t know who I am,” Obito gesticulated widely towards said Hokage, “and there is absolutely no question about why I am back from the mission so early, or what that means for my team!” he ends, breathing heavily as he looks back and forth between the two people in the office.

The Sandaime looks infuriatingly calm. Sasuke looks quite mad, though Obito doesn’t actually know why. Nor does he really care all that much.

“Sasuke-kun. Weren’t you supposed to have training with your team today?” the Hokage asks, out of the blue. Sasuke seems to hesitate before he nods.

“You should go meet up with them. Tell your sensei I require his presence here immediately. If he seems like he’s going to take his time, make sure to mention your new family-member’s name,” the man commands, and Sasuke sends Obito an uncertain look before he runs off.

“Now. I think you should tell me what happened on your mission, Obito-kun.”

The change back to familiarity is abrupt, and Obito barely manages to ignore the whiplash as he starts on his story.

Several times during it, he mentions how Kakashi and his sensei could use some back-up, if they have any to spare. Several times, the Hokage merely nods, and asks him to “go on”.

When he comes to the point of Rin’s death, there’s a bang against the door. It flies open, and in comes a strange looking ninja who looks way too familiar.

Obito stares. The intruder stares back, looking so shocked Obito’s tempted to laugh.

“Bakashi!? Is that-” he turns to the Sandaime for clarification. The man almost looks like he’s having a good time, as he smiles and nods.

Kakashi looks completely shell-shocked. Yet it’s unmistakingly him. Despite the lowered hitai-ate, the uncharacteristic informal positure, and being many years older, it can’t be anyone else.

There is nothing else for it. Obito sits down on the floor, and puts his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obito sure is an angstmachine. I gotta say, I really love writing him.
> 
> This chapter was originally going to be longer, because I actually have an end planned for this. But I do like just this little exploration as well, so I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (I might post a separate little one-shot with Sasuke and Obito bonding. I am very certain that Sasuke's story would have been different, if he had Obito there to pester him constantly.)


End file.
